The Dragons of Storybrooke: Bandit Exploitation
by Andysaurus
Summary: How a young dragon got his first family teritory going by exploiting the local feudal resources, and a good deal of teenage dragon magic. Various crossover elements mainly from The Elder Scrolls and The Lord of The Rings
1. Chapter 1

Again, the 4 day trip to the dwarf mines at the high's at the edge of the northern plateau had not really gone well. Once Andrew Dracos had gone every two months or so to exchange medicines for crystal and any minerals of interest, and then go on to the Orc camps to exchange medicines for various ingredients, some of questionable origin. Now he only went when necessary as the dwarves had become surly and greedy, the result of their growing wealth. They now begrudged him his share of the gold that they mined from veins which he scryed out for them - and he had provided the enchanted picks and designs for water pumping gear. Dracos felt that from now on he should only scry out the veins which were smaller, and harder to work.

Now the dwarves were even buying convict slaves and serfs from the lowland Dukedom to help do non mining work! At one time the dwarves were so poor that they let him take any unwanted ore he wanted as payment. The castierite tin ore was the most valuable, but so low grade that it was not worth the effort carrying any back home, except for alchemical purposes. However, by concentrating on his command of fire and frost into learning real Fire Mastery and limited Frost Mastery, he was able to magically smelt the ore on a mining hut's 'kitchen' fire and after a days work, take home a decent ingot. This could then be sold for ready cash to the Lord's Reeve, rather than the village Blacksmith who was a poor serf like nearly all the rest in the village. A better price could be got by selling direct to smiths and artisans in the nearest lowland town, that is if it was worth the 10 miles of effort of lugging it there. Later, when Hiku, the weak foal he had taken in leu of payment for veterinary help, had grown up (with some aid from health potions and a decent diet), he was able to take tin, copper and lead to sell in the nearest town.

Now the dwarves risked the anger of the wood elves by raiding the woodland for fuel so that they could smelt all the ore. This spelt disaster for the mountain slopes and the woods as they would not even coppice the trees, it was all just smash and grab. Eventually there would be a reckoning of some sort, but Dracos had no intention of taking sides, one was as greedy as the other was unreasonable. It wouldn't stop him selling medicines to the dwarves and hardened spear tips to the elves, provided that they paid him what he wanted. Serve them both right.

His trade with the Orcs of the plateau never amounted to much and one dealt with them at arms length, while with the few remaining goblin families, living in the mountain valleys at the plateau's southern edge, never. Apart from his dislike of the untrustworthy goblins, the mountain area was dying, corrupted by the dark magic coming out of the Witch / Wraith Realm, and spilling into the forest below, an area he called The Haunted Woods. To the east, where there were only hills instead of mountains, the Haunted Woods seemed to serve as a boundary, or barrier of sorts, for the Wraith Realm.

Only to the north of the plateau were the trips still really useful. It's volcanic valleys, whose lava caves were occupied by Zartan and his demons, provided Dracos with sulphur and cobalt ore. Dracos had a cordial arrangement with Zartan - he ignored Zartan's minions (and agents), and they ignored him. Zartan was quite eager to trade and exchange information, political and magical, since he regarded Dracos as neutral and a possible go between. Zartan had promised to get him some more wyvern eggs and maybe some dragon eggs. Apart from Zartan feeling that as a Deamon Lord he should live it a volcanic cavern, it also provided dragon protection. The three large volcanic caldera's with their warm lakes provided the ideal conditions for dragons from the northern Mammoth plains to built their nests every few years. There was food enough in the calderas for the hatchlings, but the juveniles needed to find food throughout the area, and the incoming and outgoing mothers instinctively eliminated any potential threats to their young. When Dracos was an adolescent the dragons had merely regarded him has an odd juvenile, but now he was strong enough and skilled enough to command them as only a Dragon Lord could. He had capitalised on this by providing Zartan with crystals enchanted with a Dragon Warding Spell which he had fashioned with help from the local Druid hermit.

Zartan's human looking daemon minions were the result of him magically introducing the blood of himself and his Balrog offspring into willing, and unwilling, human victims. Dracos could try doing that to create draconian servants but so far the opportunity had not presented itself, and he had little practice with the technique; he had only used alligator blood to make a potion that he had used on the local monitor lizards. It had had interesting effects, enlarging them and making then stand upright. The effect could also be reversed by magic and, he sensed, removed, though he had not tried to do that. Along with the wyverns, the Lesser Dragon Lizards served as guards around the place in the woods, a few miles from his village, that was His Lair where most of his gold and silver accumulated over more than 20 years of trading was stashed.

Dracos had also tried the potion on a bird, Graculus. Graculus had been a young green parakeet. Flocks of them sometimes came up from the lowlands to raid the orchards and they were popular as pets. Dracos had got Gracullus's to drink the potion so that it went into his blood, and the transformation had become permanent. Graculus had grown into a giant parakeet with a crocodile like head, tail and fingers, and more than a passing taste for meat. Though a poor flyer, Graculus had parrot intelligence and was naturally endowed with Dracos's own Dragon Magic. Graculus's future mate, Gracena, was at home keeping his boys company. Now what would the effect be on birds of prey and predatory ground birds?

Dracos's trading with the migratory wood elves who lived in the woods between the head of the river and Mirkwood, the area next to The Haunted Woods, yielded useful drugs, but they were a suspicious and capricious lot. They used various traps, which he could easily detect and avoid. They also used poisoned blowpipes and arrows, which he disliked because it took time to think about and summon an incineration spell. He continued to work on various types of shielding spell to deal with these dangers, but was not yet happy with the results. Even though he could easily use a chameleon spell or become invisible, Elves had senses, including magical ones, that made these methods of concealment almost worthless. Thus he never entered their territory uninvited, on foot. Flying would give him the advantage, not that there was much to be gained by this as he could not carry more than a small pack slung from his torso when in dragon form.

Like The Haunted Woods, Mirkwood which fringed it was expanding because of the foul creatures from The Witch King's Realm as Zartan called it. Zartan had diplomatic dealings with the undead Wraith Witch King and his witches. Dracos's lair was in no danger though, as the Druids had taught him about ward spells. He had set up a spell ward of enchanted crystals around His Lair and at the nearby hill passes next to the heights. Any foul or 'undead' creatures that did pass into the woods he frequented were no threat to him, his magic bolts were athema to them as was the Dragon Magic in his enchanted weapons. However, he drained their dark magic into un-enchanted crystal wands, creating black cursed wands.

He always kept a black wand hidden in the wagon, to curse someone, normally a knight, aristo or mage (what's the difference) who had done him a serious wrong. On the odd occasion Dracos had cursed the odd lowland lordling who he had seen beating up a serf or taking sexual advantage. However it was wiser to hide his abilities, most people at home were already nervous of him. At home he was only rumoured to be a shape shifter; the people that years ago had seen him transform into a dragon when physically provoked by one of the lord's sons and the assistant of, and now successor to, the resident mage ( fakir really ) though it better not to talk about it. Only among the market and travelling fair trading community was generally known that he used magic to protect himself against cutpurse and swindler, and that for a price he could produce enchanted items provided that no questions were asked.

The Mages Guild, a money grubbing aristocratically owned set-up which like the monasteries was supposed to be open to all of ability, held an exclusive monopoly on the use of magic and enchanting that Dracos resented. He had more magic in his little finger than in the whole of the body of any mere fakir; mages relied heavily on their staffs, wands, charms and amulets. Over the years, Dracos had had to spend a fortune in bribes to unfrocked mages and hard up apprentices in order to learn magic spells that he could then use either directly or when enchanting. Sometimes he could pay a bribe to borrow a book to read or copy, sometimes he just broke into the Guild Libraries at night.


	2. Chapter 2

After 2 days, Dracos had finally passed around the Wood Elf realm. If he had been walking, another day would have seen him home, but the excuse for a road was now difficult for any wagon. For the next few miles the gradient would get easier, but both the wood and the road tended to run next to the river. There were outcrops of rock which gave bandits easy means to waylay travellers who had to remain on the road. Bandit free ever since those raiding the dwarf mines had been removed with his help, there had been rumours of bandits again for the past year. His binoculars, though better than the telescopes which he tried to flog in the low land towns to rich clients who always made a great play of having no money, was no help here. He was about to try farseeing ahead with the inner sight when he felt a psychic subconscious farsense warning. His two alsation dogs were also uneasy; they 'told him', via their enchanted collars, men about. Yet Graculus, who had superior eyesight and was perched on the wagon, had seen nothing. Dracos psychically ordered the dogs into guard mode and checked that his wizard staff and dragon sword were where they should be. He then checked that he was wearing his studded black leather armour as usual and activated it's shield spell. Neither leather or fabric take enchantment well, but this had far from ornamental metal studs, haute pieces and grieves. The matching gauntlets had powerful offensive elemental magic designed to amplify and extend the range of his own elemental magic - fire, frost and lightning. His bracers were less to do with armour and more to do with special personal spells like levitation (telekinesis) and experimental minor teleportation. Dracos nearly always wore the bracers, except at home unless he was in the lab or when working at his small forge. Finally he ordered Graculus to take flight and observe from above.

The bandit attack was sudden, and professional; it almost took him by surprise. Dragon magic is intellectual, summoned by thinking about the spell, its formula and creation, which can put one at a disadvantage compared to those magic practitioners who use an emotion or a reflex to trigger the magic. Mentally ordering Hiku, his horse, to halt, Dracos snatched up his staff stood up, mentally summoning his flaming sword from its enchanted sheath. He was about to give the three lead bandits a taste of chain lightning and fire whip when he saw two crossbow men behind them. Ranged weapons were the only real threat, they might penetrate his shield and could harm his animals, and were too far away for the fire induction spell in his gauntlets to work on any metal in their weapons. Instinct kicked in, and Dracos reigned fire from staff and sword on the cross bow men. Only then did he use chain lightening from the staff on the others, who had been wary of the dogs.

The two burned bandits were trying to flee so Dracos ignored them, merely ordering Graculus to observe them. Dracos then looked at the paralysed bandits. One was obviously the leader, he was the only one with decent armour - expensive if old chain mail and a good sword. The others looked like little more than serfs with clubs. Which is what they might be. Changing tack, Dracos stripped the serfs and used the proceeds to bind the leader. Not a moment too soon, only weak chain lightning had been used to conserve the staffs power, so it's paralysis lasted less than a minute. Dracos applied Shocking Touch to the other pair, and prepared to dump the leader in the wagon for later questioning. However the man's mouthing about his brothers rescuing him and some junk about being of noble birth changed everything. A noble robber family - far from impossible. Too many younger sons, and older ones too, took to robbery for the 'sport' or the money. Dracos decided to cover his trail and capitalise on potential assets. Dracos used his redactive ability in reverse, aided by the bracer magic, to burn the vocal cords of the other two bandits. It was a trick that he had used a few times before on bargain breakers, and footpads who had seen too much of his abilities. They would not be identifying him.

Transforming into dragon form, he ordered one of the dogs to drive away the serfs and the other dog to track the other bandits. First scrying with the inner sight for any other dangers, and then flying above the trees with Graculus to help, the others were soon brought own with Spark Bolts, their vocal cords burned and their bodies stripped. They seemed to be dressed more like arms men, which made sense if they knew how to use cross bows.

Putting the haul of mostly rubbish armour and weapons in the wagon, along with the bandit, Dracos urged Hiku to go at a fast pace. He wanted to clear this region by noon, and there were no shorts cuts that the wagon could use. After 5 miles they had entered the mouth of the next river valley and continuing for another 6 miles they would be home. Unfortunately, because of the delays with the bandits it was now sunset. Fortunately they soon reached the point in the road were it was easiest to branch off and go to His Lair. Leaving the road, they parked in a concealed clearing. Dracos scryed intently, using the crystal ball he always carried in his pack for signs of pursuit and danger in the surrounding area.

Confidant that they were alone, Dracos made camp, then started to interrogate the bandit by using his healing magic in reverse to create pain. The answers suggested that this was indeed no mere gang but a more organised set-up; it could be a threat to trade in the area so more accurate information was needed. However, Dracos needed sleep to rest and recharge his devices, so he drugged the bandit with a little medicinal sleeping potion that he always stocked, and settled down for the night.

In the morning, Dracos scryed again for danger as Graculus could not see under the tree canopy. After a simple meal, he re-drugged the bandit and bundled him at the bottom of the wagon. The town guards should not search the wagon, but Dracos could easily cast an illusion to make the bandit look like something repulsive, like the mummified remains of an intruding 'undead' animal from Mirkwood. They should be home well before midday.


	3. Chapter 3

Soon they arrived at the former small oppidum built at a natural fording point between the main river valley's two largest lakes. The old oppidum's wooden walls were now only a token defence for the village as an adjoining fortified bailey had been built. This contained a timber and stone keep built in the style similar to that of the Holds of the semi-independent lowland lords, and took up all the Lord's interest, and cash. The village within the oppidum consisted either of old fashioned roundhouses for the better off serfs, or small rectangular huts for the poorer serfs. A network of covered channels drained the village, and being flushed by the river, dealt with the sanitation. Otherwise individual sanitation was simple but effective; only Dracos had installed a flushing toilet in his house, the real tricks had been over firing the clay U bend to vitrify it and making an efficient pump by impregnating the leather valves with dandelion latex.

The village's rampart and wall was low so that, even from the outside, a visitor could see that there were only two substantial, and also two story, buildings : the ramshackle tavern and Draco's timber framed house with its yard and outhouses. Originally walled with lime rendered clay, parts of it had been replaced with brick. It had been built to specification when Dracos had been mysteriously delivered (as were most so called changelings) 36 years ago to the Lord's former lowlander apothecary and healer, along with specifications for the house and three large bags of gold - one to purchase the land, one to build the house, and one as a 'pension' for his foster parents. The gold was irresistible to the present Lord's father, with his expensive building projects. Draco's foster parents had been able to retire from the lord's service, allowing Dracos's older foster brother, Gaius, to take over.

Gaius was now elderly and lived near the hall along with his family. Gaius was not on the best of terms with Dracos, but what he knew about Dracos's abilities he kept quite about, and he sometimes asked Dracos for advice regarding more obscure ailments. He generally agreed with Dracos's views about the resident mage - what decent mage would want to work at this out of the way dump? However, being out of the way had advantages given The Mage Guild's restrictions on the use of magic.

The bailey was also where the unimpressive stone tower of the arrogant mage and his equally idiot apprentice was sited. Most of the bailey was given up to the Lord's stables and The Great Hall, which was attached to The Keep. Poorly planned, the stone and timber Hall was actually larger than need be, a consequence of once being garrisoned by the Duke's troops, before the Lord's father had got used to bending the knee to the Duke.

Getting through the ramshackle town gates was no problem. Most people outside the bailey knew who he was, and knew that he was trustworthy with a fine house which implied money though no-one knew how much. Also, most people found him rather creepy; he tended to put guards and unmarried girls (and their fathers) ill at ease. This was because besides the various rumours, every one noticed his odd appearance. He was the only one in the village to have short cropped dark blond hair, with a very arcane hairline, rather than the long hair traditionally worn by the villagers who, unlike the Lord and his retinue, had not taken to the shorter haired lowland fashions. And he never needed to cut his hair. Since he was 30, he had looked like an adolescent of 15, until his use some years ago of a reverse regeneration potion developed by him for cosmagic surgery. It had given him the short dark moustache and beard of a 21 year old human. Then there were the dragon glyphs on his arms. Some older serfs had tattoos, but he was the only 'younger' person to have anything like them. They were steadily spreading onto his torso, being linked to his growing magical abilities.

Dracos took the wagon to the back of the house and told the dogs to guard it. Alex, his 7 year old son brought Liam, his 5 year old son, out greet him along with their mother, Alcina, who was nursing 3 year old Aidan, along with Graculus's mate Gracena and the Bull Terriers. Apart from age and some differences in hair colour, the children were exact clones of Dracos. Alex and Liam were already quite hyperactive handfuls just as Dracos had been, and Dracos wondered how much longer his arrangement with their mother could continue. They were not married so it was quite the scandal of the village.

Alcina was the stepdaughter of an important lord and had been disinherited by him after his wife's death in favour of his son. This was a novel twist on the evil stepmother story. Dracos could not have male children by normal human women, only with women who had inherited certain magical proclivities which allowed male Dracon cloning. And these women were almost always of high rank, another reason for his lack of interest in women generally. So Dracos had made a bargain with her when, after consulting with a reclusive but renowned seeress, he had discovered her dire predicament. Her stepfather planned to either silence her or marry her off to a favourite. Dracos had helped her to escape, but to were? Alcina's relatives could not shield her for long. Dracos offered to help her; he would locate and ensure that key documents were not destroyed by her stepfather (in fact he had had to magically forge some replacements) and help her make a powerful marriage alliance. That was easier said than done, as she knew. So Dracos had offered to teach her magic, provide her with useful potions and talismans, and prolong her life span until she could either contest her stepfather at the Duke's court or made a marriage - preferably both. In return she would provide Dracos with at least one male heir. Now after 7 years and having 3 children that she did not feel so much motherly attachment to, she was getting restless and was wanting to actively pursue her claims . However to counter this, Alcina definitely had a taste for learning and using magic, and Dracos was the only one who would teach her. But Alcina also had her eye on one of the Lord's poor but aggressive relations - so her relationship with Dracos could prove a problem if she continued to care for the children and did the housekeeping, which was rather below her. Dracos did not employ any servants as they cost money and had wagging tongues. He preferred to provide a small retainer to some of the retired guards so that they would look out for his house and family when he was away.

Dracos then took Hiku to the stables. Years ago he had done a deal with the stable man, providing him with lighting crystals embued with the Starlight Spell in return for care and fodder for Hiku. As candles were only for the rich, Dracos had made similar deals with the tavern owner and the blacksmith. With Hiku being cared for, Dracos went home and stashed the bandit in the main cellar. He then told Alcina briefly what had happened, she should keep the cellar trap door weighted down in case of visitors. What Dracos intended to do to the bandit would require him to work in the laboratory and there would be some noise. However, the laboratory had brick walls and no windows, while the rest of the house had glazed windows which would muffle any sounds.

Dracos had the only house with glazed windows. Glass was a rare and expensive novelty even in the lowlands. Dracos had the only glass furnace in the Dukedom. For some years, after first producing superior vitrified and glazed pottery, he had honed his Fire Mastery skills by making glass vials for use in the laboratory, and had also traded them to Gaius and lowland town apothecaries and alchemists. He now made glasses, dishes and vases for sale to the well off - these had to be of good quality to attract those with the money for fripperies so he used magic to manipulate coloured glass to provide attractive naturalistic or interesting cameo designs, as well as a protective enchantment against accidental breakage. Even so, husbands resented giving into their wife's, and always wanted to pay on the never never. The really exquisite pieces, using colloidal gold along with rarer colours and magical optical effects, never left his house. They would attract too much interest from The Mages Guild, and could be used by Dracos as diplomatic bribes. As soon as he was able, he had installed an iron sink to hold a bed of molten tin which had allowed him to produce flat panes of glass. Over a year it had allowed him to glaze all the windows. He had given some to Gaius for his "surgery" and rooms. As intended, that had attracted interest from his Lordships wife, but the price offered was so low that Dracos had only been willing to provide enough glass, and a lot of excuses, for their bed rooms. He had also provide a few, supposedly natural, lighting crystals for the Great Hall in return for a young horse. It should be full trained for riding by now; pulling the wagon he would only trust to Hiku for the time being.

With Graculus and the dogs in tow, Dracos then went over to the tavern for dinner, and to hear the gossip. There was little to hear apart from the guarded resentment from the drunker men about the increasingly heavy bonds of serfdom. These was little love lost between serfs and lords, although the situation was worse in the lowlands. Here, serfdom had only been imposed by the conquests of the current Duke's father. Finishing his meal, Dracos asked the innkeeper, who he knew well, about banditry. The innkeeper was canny and guessed that something had happened, so Dracos told him that he had run into some minor trouble. The innkeeper told him that recently a cargo of slaves bound for the mines had been high jacked, and a trader from the mines had been robbed of all his ready cash by quite a mean bunch. His Lordship would do nothing of cause, unless there was a direct threat to the village and its farm land. Dracos asked if any run away serfs might be involved. "Maybe" the innkeeper replied, "a couple of years ago some runaways had been reported as going into the woods". Being economical with his suspicions, Dracos told the innkeeper that he suspected that the serfs had settled somewhere, but then been taken over by a robber knight. He did not mention that the "somewhere" had to be the river valleys between the Elf Domain and His Lair; one valley opened out where he had been ambushed, and any could provide somewhere suitable for hard working serfs to try and settle. Dracos then bought several bottles of the innkeepers strongest booze. He had truth potion to make, a lot of it.

By magically distilling the booze to get yield neat alcohol, he was soon able to make a bottle of really strong truth potion. He soon got the truth from the bandit, but had to spend time getting precise details. It was rather as he had suspected, given the past and recent history.

Following the King's submission to The Empire and the lack of any real warfare apart from licensed warfare between rival lordships, the Dukedom was at peace. Under these conditions the grasping rich get richer at the expense of the poor. Good farm land was always in short supply, and the scratch plough could not be used on heavier and poorer soils. Only the high productivity of the crops, crop rotation, manuring, and the knowledge of the Druids in treating soil infertility, allowed the towns to exist without famines. Dracos had often given help to the hill farmers of his home village regarding animal health and soil problems. The Druids also forbade the clearing of the forests unless it was for mixed orchards, and any use of the land that protected the watersheds and controlled river flows. So given that there were plenty of unlicensed, or failed, healers about to provide low cost medical care, and contraception, there was always too little land to support the increasing feudal demands. Thus many serfs tried to leave and go to the outer woodlands and wastes, where neither the Imperial, Royal or the Duke's Law was enforced. If they could set up a viable settlement then there would be an accounting with the Duke at some point, usually by the imposition of serfdom again under a new Lord. That's partly how Dracos's village had been incorporated into the Dukedom, although the hill tribes had never been serfs before, and the lordship was indigenous. Now some fleeing serfs had managed to set up a viable hamlet next to a beaver dammed lake that had provided them a critical initial food resource, fish. After that the predatory 'noble' family expelled from the lowlands had moved in.

The family consisted of a Knight and his six grown up sons. They were fully trained, and armed, killers. They had eight armed retainers who used sword or crossbow, and had recruited, by force, several serfs to assist them. That's why they wanted the slaves, to work on the 'castle', or what passed for a castle, and do the tree felling and lumber work so leaving the other serfs able to farm the land. They certainly had plans, like hoping to attract some mercenaries who wanted to settle down and kidnapping serfs from our village.

Dracos watered the bandit, drugged him again and for good measure applied a reinforcing paralysis spell, then bunged him back in the main cellar. Dracos then considered what to do :

Ignore it : these thieves were no threat to him as he could just pick them off and remove their threat over a few months.

Inform on them to His Lordship : apart from not wanting to say how he had found out, what was in it for him?

Capitalise on it : remove the bandits and take control of the serfs. Appealing but tricky. He was only one young Dragon Lord. He would need help with giving the orders and running a settlement. But Dracos was a Scholar, a Savant, an intellectual introvert, not a people person : **All Magic Comes With A Price**, and in his case the price for his inherited memory, longevity and magic was Autism, which made haggling difficult. He was also moody, emotional, eccentric (well what should one expect of a Savant) and held grudges real or imagined. Thus he could not easily talk to people that he was not close to or had no professional rapport with, and he had poor empathy skills. And anyway, what was 'the legal' situation?


	4. Chapter 4

Dracos would need to visit the Reeve, the Lord's Estate Manager and also general Mister Fixit and Straw Boss. There was time before it was dark. The man was conceited, taking after his soddin Lordship, had the manners of an Argonian Fishwife (sometimes seen flogging dried sea fish in the town markets), and always demanded to be treated as a Shire Reeve, or Sheriff as that position was known in the towns. But he was sharp, and also knew as much about Dracos as anyone else thought that they knew about Dracos. Perhaps too sharp and too close to his soddin Lord. He had two sons, the elder was to become next Reeve, but the younger, Rhodri, had no prospects. He was clever and the one Dracos should talk to. But first he needed to change out of his leather armour and into his more 'respectable' leather jerkin and hose. The outfit was based on the lowland fashions of rich merchants and the more refined gentry; as with his armour, Dracos wore it with a white linen ruff.

The Reeve had the only other decent house in the village, next to the bailey. Dracos was able to locate Rhodri and get him to come over to his house where they could have a confidential conversation. Dracos posed the matter as a hypothetical problem, which fooled no-one. Rhodri asked Dracos bluntly why the secrecy, and what was in it for him. So Dracos, omitting certain interrogation details, indicated that he had learned that there was a start-up settlement that had been taken over by a robber knight family, and that it could eventually effect the village's trade and security. If Dracos 'removed' the bandits, what could be in it for Dracos. And what was in it for Dracos influenced what was in it for Rodri.

After some discussion a dismal informal agreement was reached, with Alcina listening in from the next room. If Dracos could remove the bandits, and get the serf's to obey him, and get a land claim filed with the Lord's Reeve, the claim would then have to be sent to the local Shire Reeve to be registered. But even for a substantial fee (or rather a bribe) and with the title rank details left out meaning that it could only rank as a Manor, not a Lordship, it would still owe feudal obligations to the local Lord, and that could be trouble. Even as Lord of the Manor, Feudal Obligations meant a yearly financial or military service tax, neither of which were a good idea. However, a possibility was to provide deferred service, i.e. to supply mercenaries or trained retainers. That might be possible. For now it would be best to rely on secrecy, with no clear trackway connecting the bandit settlement to the main riverside track, it was unlikely to be discovered and Dracos knew that there were ways of discouraging unwanted trespassers, by the adroit use of the cursed wands and maybe a few curse potions on suitable victims.

However, a figurehead would eventually be needed on occasion, either at the manor or to deal with the local Lord and the Shire Reeve. And someone would be needed immediately to act as the Reeve. Well, Rhodri would be the Manorial Reeve. Dracos then ambiguously stressed that magic might be needed to endorse Rhodri's status, and **Magic always came with a price** - something that had dimly occurred to him so he could not elaborate, yet. Alcina might be happy to represent the Manor, certainly her current possible suitor would, and she could use the position to further her own ambitions regarding magic and inheritance. Acting as the power behind the throne would allow Dracos to get on with his research, build up the manor and spend less time in trading. By the time Alcina was ready to take back her inheritance, Alex would be old enough to help run the Manor, or engage in trade, and Dracos might have even more son's on the way, though not by Alcina.

But for now, Dracos had to consider if the scheme was viable now that the legal situation was clearer. He told Rhodri that he would now have to think things over in more detail, and that Rhodri should try to call back the day after tomorrow.

Alcina was certainly eager to get involved, but held back knowing that Dracos was now concentrating, and would be in a nasty mood if disturbed. Anyway, she needed to get the children to go to bed. Dracos had to consider if he was up to this. The answer was yes, he now had sufficient command of magic. The problem was more to do with backup :

1. Armour : was the leather suit sufficient, Yes. But the cobalt steel plate armour that he had only worn when sneaking around tournaments had stronger enchantments and protection.

2. Weapons : Dragon Staff of Elemental Magic and Dragon Fire Sword, Yes. But maybe additional shock backup was needed to overcome, and debilitate, opponents in a less damaging way : a Crushing Shock Mace was needed.

3. Transport : The wagon would be needed to carry supplies but could not easily get to the settlement or anywhere near it so pack horses would be needed.

4. Additional Support : Rhodri would need to come with him to manage the serfs. Rhodri would need a magic sword and other protection. The two Alsations would need to come with him, they would need protection too. There were also the two settlement guard dogs, could they be subverted? The captured bandit, could he and any others be subverted? If so, the slaves they had captured could become more than willing recruits.

5. Other problems : what to do about dangerous prisoners?

Dracos spent the night in a dream trance, his mind engaged in astral travel and open to all manner of psychic information. Next morning Dracos knew what needed to be tested.


	5. Chapter 5

First Dracos visited the Blacksmith, taking the last of the cobalt steel ingot with him. He often made things for Dracos and had a younger son who faced the prospect of no future and was eager to be helpful - as a future Blacksmith for the settlement? The Blacksmith was able to supply Dracos with seven large dog collars, and tell him how to provide them with snap locks. Dracos told him to make the cobalt steel into a mace a.s.a.p. Dracos also needed some dungeon restraints; as it happened the Blacksmith had some slave chains in storage. Dracos would pick them up tonight.

Returning to the laboratory, and with Alex and Liam, but not Alcina, watching, Dracos fired up the enchanting forge and enchanted the collars by engraving them with the deliberately vague but symbolically charged line "COLLAR OF OBEDIENCE - FOR DAMMED SOUL'S WHO MUST OBEY THE MASTER". Next Dracos hauled "That nasty man" out of the cellar, and to a rapt audience, drained him of a pint of blood. If this worked he would need at least 7 portions of the cursed potion, and perhaps some blood left over in-case what he was going to do ever needed reversing. Laying half of the blood aside, Dracos ground the remaining blood with dried fly agaric toadstool, stored on a just in case it was wanted basis, and charged the blood with the cursed magic of the wand. No Dragon Magic was involved, Dracos did not what any of this to be traceable to him, ever. The now evil potion was administered to the bound bandit, who promptly transformed into a ghoul. Dracos experimented, finding that the collar worked but that the curse was reversible, too reversible. Dracos made the ghoul drink the potion. This time the effect was stronger and permanent, although by commanding the collar which was enchanted with dragon magic, Dracos could influence how human the Ghoul looked. Good. There would be enough of the cursed potion to do the rest of the bandit family. And it was just like how Dracos had created Graculus and Gracena. Dracos now knew for certain how to proceed. Ordering the Ghoul to return to the cellar and sleep, Dracos prepared to get an unusual ingredient.


	6. Chapter 6

Leaving the boys to annoy Alcina, Dracos got Hiku and rode around the lake to its inflow, where there was a small marsh and boggy woodland. It was also the haunt of alligators. A hermit Druid lived there in a lodge. The Druids, who had a woodhenge camp at the foot of the hills and various fanes in the south west range of hills, were close to nature, so had always recognised Dracos's true nature. Therefore he did not need to keep any secrets from them, until now maybe. Despite various disagreements, they were on friendly terms with Dracos.

Dracos asked the old Druid about bandits, but the old man had nothing to say. He did know about slaves being sent to the dwarves, there was a small consignment of varying size each month now. Disgusting, no wonder the Lord wanted the Blacksmith to have slave chains available. Traditionally all hill tribes had practised some slave raiding during clan conflicts, but that had now stopped. Possibly the Lord was going to sell surplus serfs, legally he could do this. Or maybe it had something to do with the slave traders needing to quickly replace damaged shackles.

After getting a pint of (paralysed) alligator blood, Dracos returned to the laboratory and prepared the 'blessed' potion. This time only the (dragon) magic Dracos had stored in a normal crystal wand was needed. Rather than experiment on his Alsations, he went in search of Butch The Mastiff's owner. Butch was the nastiest guard dog in the village and no one would miss him. Butch's owner owed Dracos, so he reluctantly parted with Butch to clear his veterinary debts. With Butch's former owner gone, Dracos tested the potion on Butch in the same way he had tested the bandit. The result was good, but because dragon magic had been used, Dracos had full control over Butch's undersized brain and his transformation between dog and lion (a mythical Kadjit beast) dragon dog. Butch's head was now scaly, with bigger fangs, a mane, and he had a more substantial tail.

Returning home with Butch (in dog form), and explaining only to Alex and Liam what he was doing, Dracos then transformed his Alsations into Dragon Dogs. Their form was different, lighter and more gracile, a more gorgonopsid form with large sabre canines. Dracos didn't want Alcina trying to do this sort of thing any time soon. Although Alcina did not possess the innate mind over matter psychic ability to power the transformation, one had to be very cautious with knowledge of this kind of magic. Dracos could imagine how, if she could get one of his a dragon or cursed wands, she would love to try and turn her stepfather and his son into swine, undead or otherwise. This was why he now kept his laboratory note books, scrolls and spell books warded and under lock and key. Originally he had just done and learned magic instinctively so had not needed to make notes, unless it was for spells that were not his. But now that he was teaching magic to Alcina, reference material and proper spell books were needed.

Then Dracos used the remaining bandit blood as the base of a new alligator blood potion. This was to change suitable humans into 'lizard men', draconian retainers that Dracos could control. Not Argonians, although no-one this far from the coast or the Forest Isles of Blackmarsh would know the difference. Even Khajit mercenaries never made it this far from their native grasslands in Elsewyre, further to the south east. Dracos also wondered what the effect of the potion would be on the more intelligent forest apes. Gremlins? Maybe he could purchase some from a travelling fair or circus.

Then Dracos made a somewhat different dracon potion using his own blood, this was for Rhodri, if he wanted it. Finally he cleaned up the best bandit blade and enchanted it for Rhodri. Alex and Liam were fascinated by the process.

Then Dracos had an idea, what would be the effect of mixing the last of the bandit blood with alligator blood and certain magic mushrooms. The result would be both humanoid and reptilian, and magical - an alligator man, a Daedroth. Dracos decide to create this potion, but when it came to storing it he realised there was an issue here. There were few options when storing liquids - an amphora or a jug covered with either a leather or a wooden, wax sealed, capping. Only with expensive glazed or stoneware wine bottles was cork bark used. Dracos alone had access to glassware and used either glass stoppers (for acids) or linen treated with dandelion latex - rubber, which could be hardened by cooking it with sulphur. Dracos had been filling large glass bottles with valuable potions; repeatedly recapping them would be a problem. The best solution was to individually store the doses in small bottles which could be sealed with a glass stopper and/or rubberised cloth. Dracos told Leo to round up all the kids available who wanted to earn some money and collect dandelion leaves and roots, while Dracos got busy at the glass forge making lots of small vials and stoppers.


	7. Chapter 7

That evening Dracos took the dogs and paid Rhodri a visit and gave him a progress report. Rhodri agreed with the basics of the plan, and was fascinated by how the dogs could change their forms under Dracos's symbolic vocal command. Rhodri was also apprehensive about such matters. Dracos gave him the enchanted blade; it was to ward off the cursed creatures of Mirkwood, and also shimmered blue when close to such creatures. It was also capable of cutting through any opposing blade or armour.

Dracos gave Rhodri two 'cheap' low grade armbands taken from stock. Since his main customers were often the dangerous or unscrupulous, Dracos had deliberately crafted them to be 'cheap' crude imitations of the more accomplished creations of certain Mages. One was a 'Ring' of Chameleon, best used in woodland or indoors under poor lighting, and a 'Ring' of Invisibility, which incurred a price upon the wearer. Unlike the better quality invisibility ring that Dracos used to conserve his magic, using this armband required the wearers own bio-energy and was too draining to be used for more than a few minutes at a time if one was on the run.

Dracos then told Rhodri to practice using the armbands and told him about the special potion. If Rhodri needed to use magic (for defence or instilling fear) to impose his future authority, then Rhodri might have to take the potion and** All Magic Comes With A Price**. But for now Rhodri should just forget about it.

Finally Dracos told Rhodri about the overland luggage problem, thus the need for pack horses. Rhodri told him that he would get hold of the horse which had been promised Dracos, but otherwise horses were at a premium, and more like no sale. Because of the shortage of grazing land only the Lord had spare horses, and they were not going to be for sale. Old draft oxen might be a better idea. Dracos knew that he could rejuvenate the oxen, and that they could pick them up from the common land around the village whenever they were needed. That night, Dracos concocted the requisite oxen rejuvenation potion; he didn't mind the whole family studying how this was done.

The next day, Dracos went with Rhodri to purchase two oxen. Afterwards he was able to get the mace from the Blacksmith and proceeded to enchant it on the enchanting forge with shock, paralyse and crushing spells. Then Dracos made up a batch of rubberised linen and decanted the various potions into individual vials. For Alex and Liam, though they were far too young to work enchantment or help with the glassware, this was far more interesting than being taught their words by Alcina, or attempting to play the lute or screechy rebec (for which the neigbours would be most grateful).


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, Dracos put the supplies in the wagon with the ghoul underneath them, and along with the Alsations and Butch, left the village. Outside he met up with Rhodri who was riding Dracos's other horse. For now, Hiku could pull the wagon so that the slower oxen, who required constantly full bellies, could conserve their strength.

By midday they had reached the place at the edge of the woods where Dracos had parked the wagon before. After a bite to eat, they concealed the wagon under a shrub and transferred most of the cargo to the oxen. Dracos would ride Hiku, but wearing his plate armour. Metal armour was either too hot or too cold, however Draco's armour was enchanted with multiple enchantments to provide protection, weigh almost nothing, and always be the right temperature. His leather armour was left with the wagon; like the plate armour it had a shocking touch enchantment to protect it from thieves and vermin. Dracos put an illusion spell on the wagon; it would make it look like a dead tree stump. Finally Dracos sat down with the scrying crystal and scryed ahead to get their precise bearings. Satisfied that the present location was suitable, Dracos instructed the ghoul to take up human form and to head towards the settlement's bandit keep. It was to act dumb and in distress and lose its human form during the night. When it became a ghoul it was to act in a frightening manner, but not to cause any real harm, For now, Dracos just wanted it to create a climate of fear.

Then they set out for a location that Dracos had scryed earlier, a wooded hill overlooking the settlement. Graculus flew overhead to provide long range reconnaissance, while the dogs keen sense of smell and hearing would alert them to any others in the woods. The only other dangers that they might encounter were the corrupted creatures of Mirkwood, and that was unlikely. Anyway, their swords would warn them - Dracos got strange sensations when in the presence of such creatures, but other things could cause that.

After 3 hours of trekking through woodland and scrub they reached a hillside hollow where they could unload the oxen; the oxen could also rest here at night. The oxen were 'told' to graze at the bottom of the hill and Butch, in dragon lion form, was set to guard them. Dracos and Rhodri went up to the top of the hill and made camp. The Alsations were told to keep guard in dragon dog form, while Graculus settled down in the tree above.

With the telescope, Dracos and Rhodri looked at the valley below. It was a small hamlet of perhaps 6 family huts with outhouses between two large beaver ponds. This was reminiscent of the village, and provided protection. On the open side there was a simple fence. Around the hamlet was a patchwork of fields. They looked as if hand ploughs were being used, a real sign of poverty.

Scrying with the crystal, instead of his scrying mirror, took time but revealed more. On the other side of the ponds and joined to the hamlet by a simple but substantial bridge of planks, there was a crude bailey. It was no more than a walled compound containing several huts and sheds and a crude wooden keep, the design of a typical bandit stronghold. Around it the land had been cleared of any cover and most trees felled. There was a place that served as a crude lumber yard, but no blacksmith's. The bandits must be relying on simple whet stones to mend their weapons or stealing new ones.

Scrying revealed that there were only a few guards around but these few thugs were well able to dominate the hamlet's serfs. Dracos sought out the ghoul and was encouraged by the sight. The ghoul had been found by a small party and was being escorted towards the hamlet. The party appeared to consist of a leader, two serfs and two thugs with crossbows. This was too good a chance to miss. Sending Graculus to cover the party, Dracos grabbed the bag with the cursed collars and potions inside, and his staff and changed into dragon form.

Ordering the Alsations to follow him, Dracos flew over the woodland, skirting the hamlet, and headed for the party. When getting close he evoked invisibility; fortunately he could still fly and remain invisible at the same time. His priority was the crossbows. He took out the thugs with chain lightening and then used spark bolts on the others. Then he incinerated the crossbows. Ordering Graculus to keep watch, the dogs to act as sheep dogs over the bandits, and the ghoul to collect up any weapons, Dracos proceeded to collar the bandit leader and pour the cursed potion into his mouth. With the new ghoul now under his control, Dracos proceeded to burn the vocal chords of the thugs and the serfs. He also crippled the thugs. Dracos was more easy going on the serfs, their wounds would heal without help as he planned use them. Satisfied that one-one could easily say what had happened, Dracos repeated the earlier order to both ghouls : to take up human form and to head towards the bandit keep, act dumb and in distress, and lose human form during the night. When a ghoul, act in a frightening manner but do not cause any real harm, yet.

So, 2 down and 4 + 1 bandit leaders to go. Ignoring the wooden clubs, Dracos picked up the looted swords and knives, and flew back to Rhodri at the hilltop. The rest of the evening was spent scrying on the fun and games in the Keep, and in locating what passed for a mage / healer. Currently the mage appeared to be trying to find out what had happened to the ghouls; it was a good thing that Dracos had enchanted the collars to be invisible and give a very nasty shock to anyone trying to remove them. Still, the mage would have to be taken out, soon, since this type of enchantment could be detected and countered.


	9. Chapter 9

By next day it was apparent that though the bandits were on alert, they had no idea that they were under deliberate attack. At midday, Dracos observed one bandit leader hard at work in the fields bullying the serfs, without almost no backup. In the meantime, another bandit leader had gone for a hard earned snog in a nearby barn with a girl who was obviously unappreciative of the prospect. Time to move.

With Graculus and the two dragon dogs on hand, Dracos flew up behind the bullying bandit and hit both him and the guards with chain lightening. With the dogs pinning down the serfs, Dracos quickly collared the bandit and administering the cursed potion. Dracos then gave him the same orders that he had given the other ghouls. Then Dracos crippled the two thugs and took their weapons. Ordering the dogs to return to Rhodri, Dracos and Graculus flew to the barn, becoming invisible once he was out of the way of the serfs. Again, chain lightening dealt with the pair snogging inside, and Dracos was able to return to Rhodri with no more serfs alerted to his presence. 4 down and 2 + 1 bandits to go.

Once the staff had recharged, the bandit mage would have to be dealt with. Scrying revealed that so far the mage was having no luck with the currently human looking ghouls, but he had detected a magical influence - the collars. The mage would have to go. Unfortunately, the mage was never on his own or at a convenient location so Dracos had to wait until nightfall. The mage had his own large two room hut, separate from any other building in the bailey. Besides the mage there were two guard dogs and thugs on guard. Dracos could not control the dogs, only influence them in the same way that he could influence the horses, so care was needed. Mage first then, maybe, dogs and thugs.

It did not prove too difficult. Dracos flew up to the bailey that night and scryed ahead to make sure the mage was resting. When the two gate guards were looking elsewhere, Dracos flew onto the hut and hit the dogs with strong chain lightening and then paralysis. Going into the hut, the mage was easily disabled. Dracos wanted the mage alive to question later. For now, Dracos stripped the mage and the hut of items which he sensed, or knew, were magical. The mage's obsidian dagger looked quite interesting; was it coated in dried blood? Dragging the mage outside, Dracos seised the opportunity to give the two dogs their potion. Now he would have allies inside the enemy camp. Dracos then fire balled the mage's hut and flew out. The bandits would think, for now, that the mage had had a very nasty magical accident.


	10. Chapter 10

The next day saw the bandits in a state of near panic. They had just enough muscle left to keep control of the settlement, but were to scared to leave it and no longer trusted the serfs they were using as backup; Dracos's leniency towards these serfs was paying of. The other serfs were also in a state of near panic. However because the farming serfs had not suffered compared to the bandits, they were continuing to get on with normal farm work - for now. There were still 2 bandits plus the Leader, and 5 thugs still on their feet, the other thugs were still too burned or crippled to help out. And Dracos had taken their weapons. The 4 ghouls had been locked up in one of the sheds. Dracos decided that that night he would try and finish it.

At dusk Rhodri, carrying certain supplies, rode with the dragon dogs to hide some way from the gate of the bailey, while Dracos flew inside. As Graculus could not see well at night, he had been left with Butch, Hiku and the Oxen. Dracos surprised the two thugs on guard at the gate and crippled them. Then he transformed the two guard dogs into dragon dogs, flew up onto the roof of the keep and waited. Shortly after it got dark, one of the bandits came out to check up. Dracos electrocuted him, administered the cursed potion, and then freed the other ghouls. They and the dogs could wait outside the keep unless needed. Casting chameleon, Dracos went into the keep and went to the room were he had scryed the other bandit and dealt with him. Instructing the new ghoul to follow him, Dracos then scryed that there was one thug still awake. Thus thug was dealt when he went to look for the bandit that had gone outside. Then Dracos was free to deal with the bandit leader, and then the 2 remaining thugs.

Calling Rhodri inside, Dracos ordered the ghouls to find and collect up all weapons, armour and valuables (which all meant the same to a ghoul's simple mind) and put then in a secure room. The 9 thugs were collected up and put in the hut that the ghouls had been secured in. The ghouls were told to keep the thugs in the hut, for what that was worth, while the dogs were told to guard the gate. More intelligent retainers were urgently required. After a few hours rest, and leaving Rhodri to mind the keep, Dracos flew back to the Hiku, Butch and the oxen. By dawn, Dracos had arrived back at the keep with the rest of their party. The occupants of the hamlet were watching apprehensively from within their huts as Dracos had not yet returned to human form.

The next thing to do was to release the six frightened slaves. Dracos released the slaves and, after finding out why each was now a slave, offered them a choice :

1. Leave and labour with the serfs in the village.

2. Leave and take their chances in the woods, which were filled with all manner of dangers (this was true, but in this valley and nearer to the village they would be fairly safe, apart from the odd bear, cougar or wolf pack)

3. Serve as dragon retainers. If they proved worthy they would receive certain powers from him, but they should remember that **All Magic comes with a price**, in this case their appearance. Dracos did not elaborate except to say that they would still be able to have human wives and children.

They quickly thought it over. Some asked if they could see their families and Dracos promised the two who had children that he would get their families here. However they were uncertain. However, Rhodri then decided that to set an example, to take the potion, and in full. Dracos did not get him to drink it, yet. By using only skin absorption of the potion, Rhodri gained a scaly tailed body, but no wings or reptile like head, or magic ability. However, using his magic, Dracos then demonstrated that could transform Rhodri back into human form. Dracos then gave Rhodri a dose to drink. With a little aid from Dracos, Rhodri was able by himself to transform between wingless reptile headed retainer and human form. The potion would give Rhodri limited lightning magic, but he would need training. Dracos could also give Rhodri an amulet to provide magical abilities later, unless he gave Rhodri the special Dragon blood potion, which would give Rhodri wings and greater magic.

After this demonstration by Rhodri, the prospective retainers all agreed to have the potion administered. Dracos only used skin absorption of the potion, drinking it was for later if they proved trustworthy. Rhodri then gave them orders : two to get whatever armour and weapons were in the keep or on the oxen, two to guard the gate, one to feed the dogs, and the last one to go with Dracos and attend to the thugs. They would now be chained up with the bandit mage and later healed by Dracos.

Finally, taking two of the retainers as well as two dogs as guards, and with Dracos and Graculus keeping watch from a distance, Rhodri went into the hamlet to take control. Even though he was in human form, Rhodri had a problem persuading the frightened serfs that it was safe to come out. Once out, they soon had to accept that they were under new management. Rhodri stressed that The Dragon Lord he served was a magical being of great learning who planned to improve the settlement. By the end of the day, Rhodri had got a basic plan of what was required to get the village running properly. The two draft oxen would be invaluable for plowing and lumber work, but a couple more were needed. Proper lumber yard tools were needed as well as a blacksmith. The younger son of the village blacksmith could do that. All that was needed was secrecy.

Rhodri made up a list of tools, domestic animals and personnel who would be required, while sketching out a plan for the manor, Garth Dracos. Dracos would have to arrange to get the items, and for now with some secrecy. Alcina could help with purchasing at the village end while Dracos arranged the transport. Dracos also needed somewhere decent to stay, particularly for when the family moved over here; now if he could copy the layout of his house and store it as a picture, a memory, in a magic crystal, he could use magic to recreate the entire house provided that the raw materials (wood, stone, clay, metal, glass) were on hand.


	11. Chapter 11

Within a year the settlement was running properly and the standard of living of the serfs was improving. They had even attracted two families of impoverished serfs from the village, and The Druids started to pay visits. There was a proper wooden wall around the entire hamlet while the keep had been replaced by an administrative building for Rhodri and the dracon retainers, all built using thug labour, while Dracos had got his manor house magically 'erected' inside its own stone walled compound. By the end of the year, just before Alcina arrived with the boys, Dracos finally 'erected' a 'state of the art' stone wizards tower complete with spell casting room, library, and mages workshop.

The next year Dracos 'erected' a stone keep and installed Alcinas's love interest as puppet lording. This allowed diplomatic relations to begin with the clan Lord. Alcina was now looking after both the boys and the keep. A new housekeeper would be needed.

The settlement developed happily over the next 10 years. The manor now had 12 serf families besides those of the blacksmith, Rhodri and the retainers. The keep had been magically extended with imposing towers and battlements, and was directly attached to Draco's residence. By this time a full accommodation had been reached with the The Duke. To do this Alcina's husband needed to accept full Draconian status as well, so that they could use 'race' as an aid in diplomacy. Alcina, while now a powerful witch, now had young children who could regain her inheritance.

Dracos's three boys had also developed an 'unhealthy' passion for jousting, and becoming knights, so to cater to this hedonistic hobby a small tournament ground was built. At least when enchanted armour was worn, no-one could get hurt. Dracos also paid for a tournament ground to be built at the clan village.

After 50 years everything changed. Dracos now had 3 adolescent boys who were looking after the trading business or helping in the laboratory, plus more two young boys by the new 'housekeeper', the Lady Azura, who was already an accomplished sorceress. He had also established relations with other Dragon Lords overseas, the Western Feathered Serpent and the Eastern Wingless Dragon.

Then came the imperial succession crisis, while the troublesome duke was poisoned by either the agents of Zartan or The Witch King while on campaign against the Wood Elves and The Orc Kingdom; no one was admitting anything about that. Dracos was glad that the Duke would not be rampaging round his part of the country anymore, however the entire province fell apart into squabbling petty kingdoms, as did the irritating Mages Guild. Many gifted Arch Mages such as the eccentric Sheogorath now seised power as rulers, Wizard Kings, in their own right.

This all meant that Dracos could enlarge and ward his territory right up to the borders of the Elven kingdom, the mountain borders with the Orc and Dwarf kingdoms, and the clan lord holdings. Dracos erected a great Dragon Tower at the edge of the mountains to mark his territories independence.


End file.
